PROVIDENCE – Legislation redistricting the House, Senate and congressional districts in Rhode Island based on the results of the 2010 federal census has been approved by the General Assembly.
The legislation creates an 18-member reapportionment commission that will redraw district lines to “better reflect population shifts;” it was sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael J. McCaffrey, D-Warwick, and Rep. Stephen R. Ucci, D-Johnston/Cranston.
“The purpose of redistricting every decade is to achieve the one-person, one-vote goal that ensures that all Rhode Islanders are represented fairly and equally,” said Ucci in a news release.
New district lines may mean some legislators will represent geographically larger or smaller areas than before. The commission will create districts that are as “compact and contiguous as possible, taking into account natural, historical, geographical and municipal, and other political lines.”
The bills – S-0924 and H-6096 – will now go the governor for consideration.
The commission will make its recommendation to the General Assembly by Jan. 15, 2012 so elections later that year reflect the new district boundaries.
The last redistricting, reducing the overall size of the General Assembly, occurred in 2002; since the overall number of districts will not change this time, there are fewer contests expected between sitting legislators.
